Convicted felon Tom Girardi’s lawyers asked a judge to order him to stay in a locked medical facility for life, as his prosecutors seek a 14 year sentence in federal prison.
Girardi, 85, is a “broke, half-blind, incontinent” man with dementia, a memo filed in the US District Court in the Central District of California said. If given a long prison sentence Girardi would die there without understanding why, his lawyers said.
“A custodial sentence is also not necessary to achieve general deterrence because the litigation spawned by [Girardi Keese]’s collapse has left Girardi a penniless pariah, and the associated media, State Bar response, and criminal prosecutions have already made him the cautionary tale for lawyers nationwide,” his sentencing position filed Friday said.
His lawyers want Judge Josephine L. Staton to order he remain in a locked medical facility in Orange County, Calif., where he has resided since 2022, according to the memo.
Staton, of the US District Court for the Central District of California, said on Dec. 2 that Girardi exaggerated his cognitive decline during his August trial. She denied his team’s request for a new trial.
Prosecutors on Friday said in addition to a 14-year sentence they want almost $3.8 million in restitution from Girardi, whose firm was forced into bankruptcy in 2020.
A heavy sentence is needed in light of the “irreparable damage he has done to his clients and the legal profession,” their sentencing position said.
The case is USA v. Girardi, C.D. Cal., No. 2:23-cr-00047, 12/6/24.
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